Holidays are full of food, family and fun. Keep in mind, however,  what you are doing to your body as you indulge in food and inactivity this holiday season. Exercise during holidays can prevent your body from sliding down a slippery slope of bad habits.

Research Study: Exercise During Holidays

A recent study conducted by the University of Bath in the United Kingdom compared two groups of men, those who overate and exercised and those who overate and did not exercise. Those who exercised overate the same percentage as those who did not exercise in effort to avoid skewed results. Bath researchers took a close look at the fat cells and blood sugar of these men after just a week of their exercise and overeating patterns. 

The results came back as expected. The benefits of daily exercise are present even when your eating habits are not necessarily healthy. Researchers found that those who did not exercise for this brief period of time showed a decline in blood sugar control and their fat cells started showing more signs of an unhealthy metabolism. On the other hand, those who exercised had stable blood sugar control and their fat cells showed much less signs of an unhealthy metabolism.

Exercise during holidays has clear benefits. More research still needs to be done about how the correlation is made but the benefits are definite.

During this holiday season and others to come get up and exercise for at least 30 minutes a day to prevent your body from falling through the cracks. As this study shows exercise during holidays can keep your body stable despite overeating.

Not only does exercise during holidays maintain balance with your physical body but it also helps you maintain balance mentally. Exercise is an excellent stress reliever. Even a short exercise will help you to clear your mind when the stress of the holidays comes your way.